Take responsibility for your failures

Editorial

In elections, there are winners and losers. That’s just a fact
of democracy. Some of those losers, however, turn out to be sore
losers. Perhaps the sorest of all is former Rep. Steve Driehaus,
D-Ohio. After serving one term in Congress, Driehaus lost his bid
at re-election. Rather than accepting his fate, Driehaus decided to
take the matter to court. Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony
List, a pro-life group that publicly identified him as a traitor to
the pro-life cause during the 2010 election on the grounds that he
voted in favor of President Barack Obama’s health care reform.
Driehaus claims the group is responsible for his “loss of
livelihood” and, surprisingly enough, the U.S. District Court has
actually allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

To put it bluntly, Driehaus’s lawsuit has absolutely no solid claim
on which to stand. Yes, the Susan B. Anthony List publicized
material about Driehaus, which most likely hurt his standing with
any members of the pro-life community. However, this material was
not slanderous. It is true that Driehaus voted in favor of the
health care reform, and it is also true that most pro-lifers
disliked the reform because it offered no pro-life protections.
Therefore, the Susan B. Anthony List’s characterization of Driehaus
as unconcerned with protecting the pro-life stance is not
unfounded. One cannot be mad at the facts.

It seems that Driehaus forgot that attack ads are and always have
been part of the election game. When one side doesn’t like what the
other side is saying, they are always sure to make sure the public
knows it. As long as the attacks are not outright lies, then they
are fairly protected under the First Amendment. If one cannot stand
that sort of climate, then one should not be a politician.

It’s easy to blame others for our failures, and, sometimes, other
people are actually responsible for those failures. Usually,
though, that is not the case, and it certainly isn’t the case here.
Driehaus failed because he didn’t have the public’s support. That
is not the fault of the Susan B. Anthony List. That is his fault
for not serving his constituents in the way they wanted him to.